GC and Rickenbacker

billikenn · Post by **billikenn** » Sat Jul 03, 2004 12:10 pm

been a while since I was here, and I remember posts commenting on Guitar Center having tons of Ricks on order that were going into showrooms.

I still stop by GC once in a while to see what they got. which is usually "just" a 325 or 360.
(no offense intended to those guitars)

what ever happened to the quantity expected?

(every guitar store should have a 650 in stock once in a while)

rkbsound · Post by **rkbsound** » Sat Jul 03, 2004 4:55 pm

I was just in a GC to listen to the local teens beat on the guitars. How do so many kids, year after year, who have never met each other, manage to play the same riffs in GC whenever I go there?

Anyway, not one Rickenbacker in the place.

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Sat Jul 03, 2004 7:31 pm

There are 5 or 6 Ric's in the one closest to me 325's and 360's, no basses though.

adam_swapp · Post by **adam_swapp** » Sat Jul 03, 2004 7:36 pm

The local GC has a couple of 325's and something else (I can't remember). 3; that's it. Except for basses, but who cares about them?

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Sat Jul 03, 2004 7:46 pm

haha! a couple of us here.

beefandbones · Post by **beefandbones** » Sun Jul 04, 2004 8:00 am

Yeah at the GC Seattle they had two 325s recently, but believe it or not they actually had a 650D in stock for a couple of days about three months ago. I have never seen a new Rick bass at that GC, though they do have a used CS bass. Never seen a 620 or 660 there, or a 330.

Incidentally, I was playing a 325c58 MG they had and a 'salesman' came up and said "didja know that guitar's kind of like the one that John Lennon played? The only difference is that he played a full scale model." And I said, "uh... no, he played pretty much this exact model." And he was like "Yeah, not many people realize that he played the full scale version. I don't know why Rickenbacker makes the short scale version - they're so hard to play. Not very versatile, pretty much just a rhythm guitar." (BTW, way to sell your stock, dude!) So I said "Rick makes the short scale version of the c58, because it's a resissue of the model that John played." And he was like, "A lot of people think that, but it's wrong." So I said, "A full scale 325c58 would be called a 350c58 and if John played THAT model, why don't you ever have any in stock? Because Rick doesn't make one - because John didn't play one." He insisted I was wrong, and got really argumentative about it. I handed him the guitar and recommended "Beatles Gear" which they had in stock and the Rick website and walked out of the store.

I guess my point is, besides me being a smartass, is that Guitar Center sucks. I bought my first (used) Rick, a '67 456/12 at a small shop, and I've bought my other Ricks online.

Prob'ly woulda told me Beatle Paul played a 4003, too.

jps · Post by **jps** » Sun Jul 04, 2004 6:24 pm

They are known as "sales drone".

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Sun Jul 04, 2004 8:11 pm

I also think they're getting defensive because they know online sales are killing them.

adam_swapp · Post by **adam_swapp** » Sun Jul 04, 2004 8:57 pm

GC owns Musician's Friend - who may be (and I don't know for sure) the largest online dealer. It certainly looks like GC management, at any rate, recognized the possible shift in the market.

beefandbones · Post by **beefandbones** » Mon Jul 05, 2004 10:48 am

I suppose the Internet is an ideal place for selling Rickenbackers. RIC doesn't make all that many instruments each year, but they are very consistent which gives more confidence when buying sight unseen. Of course, I'd prefer to play it in advance, but...

GC is just one of those places - sales drones pester you when you're just looking, but if you actually need help they're nowhere to be seen. That one sales drone wouldn't have bothered me if he wasn't so arrogant. There are a lot of things I don't know, but I try not to make a show out of it!

ken_james · Post by **ken_james** » Wed Jul 07, 2004 7:05 am

The CS is gone however.

gstuadams · Post by **gstuadams** » Wed Jul 07, 2004 7:16 am

I was in the local (El Cerrito) GC twice in the last two weeks. The only Ric in the store was '73 BG 4001 ($1,450 w/out full width inlays or checkered binding, min. wear but not even cleaned up). I have only seen ONE other Ric in that store EVER (a desert glo 330 that a friend of mine bought). They just don't have any. This is the GC for the east bay (of S.F. bay area). Sad.

beefandbones · Post by **beefandbones** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 9:23 am

And another thing, if you look at their most recent sale booklet (which I guess is available nationally) it prominently features a photograph of a salesroom with a giant wall full of Rickenbackers.

I picked up the flyer at the GC in Kirkland, WA - A GC that had not a single new or used Rick.

wormdiet · Post by **wormdiet** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 9:43 am

The GC's in North Carolina *occasionally* have a 360 in stock and usually a 325c58. The Raleigh location sometimes has used basses too. (A really nice MG one was there a few months ago)

Sam Ash's here usually have 4 or 5, but only 330/360s in 6 and 12 string varieties. Once in a while a 4003.

I had a bad experience at GC regarding ricks. One of the salesdudes (To use the appropriate term) told me that a 4003 was a discontinued model and "worth a lot of money" because of it. They wanted ~$1200 for a *USED* one.

adam_swapp · Post by **adam_swapp** » Sat Jul 10, 2004 10:20 am

GC must have bought a boatload of those 325c58's. It seems to be the most common Rick in their stores (non-scientific survey, of course). You've got to wonder what kind of a deal you may be able to make on one.